INTERVIEW WITH LUTHER HTOO

A QUIETER LIFE: Luther Htoo with his wife Naw Paw Eh Hsoe and their two sons.
Q: Tell us about yourself and your family?

A: I arrived at Ton Yang camp with my brother Johnny in 2002. I am now married to Naw Paw Eh Hsoe. We have two sons, aged one and five. My mother, Naw Khay Htaw, stays with us. We have enough food and clothes here, but we cannot work.

Q: Where is Johnny now?

A: My brother is in Myitta town in Burma, but I am not exactly sure what he is doing. We have not seen each other since he left the camp in July, 2006. I have received only one message from him through a third party. He said he was not happy there. The Burmese woman who brought him to Myitta is not so good with him and other former God's Army members who surrendered. Our father stays with him and he also is not happy there.

Q: Do you miss your brother?

A: Yes, I miss him and my father, Poo Gaw, very much. I sincerely hope that they will come back here and we will stay together like before.

Q: Do you regret having been associated with God's Army?

A: That is the past and I don't want to talk about it.


Q: What did you learn during your stay with God's Army?

A: I learned that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is two-faced. They are the ones who create troubles for the Karen people. I could see clearly their culture, their activity and the way their troops operate.


Q: What is your opinion of the Karen National Union (KNU)?

A: It is a good organisation. If we didn't have the KNU the Karen people would have faced even more hardship and we wouldn't have had any leaders. We would be even more desperate and lost. The KNU is our mother organisation. It is leading the Karen people.


Q: Give us your opinion about the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors (VBSW).

A: It was not my choice that they came to us. I didn't accept them. It was other people who brought them to us and it was Shwe Bya who allowed them to stay with us.


After the Burmese Embassy siege, when the Thai authorities came to us and asked my brother and myself to hand over the VBSW members, we agreed and would have been happy if they left us, but Shwe Bya was against it. We didn't want them to stay with us right from the beginning.


Q: Tell us your plans for the future.

A: We have all applied for resettlement in Sweden because my mother-in-law lives there. However, I am afraid that it won't be easy to go there because I was a member of an armed group and many countries won't accept a person like that.


Q: What would you like to do now?

A: I would like to learn how to use the computer and to get a job as a computer programmer, provided I am accepted by a third country. I would also like to study the Bible and to become a missionary.

Q: Would you like to go back home, to stay in Thailand, or to live abroad?

A: At this moment I can't go back to my village because the SPDC is there. I want to go with my family to a third country. I would like to remain in Thailand if we were able to move around freely, but that is not possible now. We are presently confined to the camp.

Q: What do you do with your free time?

A: I like to play the guitar. I also smoke cigarettes, but not as many as before.


Q: Tell us your biggest wish?

A: I would like to have my own computer and learn how to use it. However, at this moment, I don't have permission to learn because only those who passed Grade Six are permitted to do so.


Q: What were the happiest and most disappointing events in your life?

A: I am happy that the Karen people are able to exist as a nation and that God has allowed us to stay safely in Ton Yang refugee camp. We are also thankful to the Thai government for treating us and other Karen people humanely, although we caused them a lot of problems in the past. I am disappointed with the SPDC for its treatment of the Karen people.


By Maxmilian Wechsler

http://www.bangkokpost.com/280908_Spectrum/28Sep2008_spec29.php